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Friday, January 5, 2018

Poems Can Make Statements

Disconnected

Photo by Louise M.

Students - We all have things in our lives that trouble us, that we see as worries or dangers. For me, one of these things is the way that technology connects us...but sometimes seems to disconnect us even more. Today's poem explains the way I feel sometimes. Perhaps you have felt this way too. Life is full of ups and downs and beauties and concerns.

And we can write about any and all of them.

We can comment on the world through our poems. And when we're lucky, the poems we write will meet others at the right time for them. Most of the time, we will never even know when this happens. But we still write. I would love to read some statement poems by young writers, so if you're writing them, please feel free to share them with me through your teacher.

Writing can lift the world.

Speaking of goodness, over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, I am happy to welcome third grade teacher Dina Bolan and her third grade writers from Alexander Hamilton Elementary School in Glen Rock, New Jersey. Take a peek at their nonfiction notebook entries, and leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a new notebook of your own!

Thank you to Librarian Jone McCullough for featuring my READ! READ! READ! with illustrator Ryan O'Rourke over at Check It Out today! There's a giveaway for the book, thanks to Boyds Mills Press, so if you leave a comment by next Thursday...you may win a copy.

Catherine is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup by celebrating the wonderful new book CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR: POEMS OF RACE, MISTAKES, AND FRIENDSHIP by Irene Latham and Charles Waters over at Reading to the Core. Please visit!

14 comments:

Amy, writing is about both the mud and the flowers, the irksome and the delightful. so your poem is perfectly understandable. Poets make statements, note observation on life and often take a political stance. Your observation of modern day phone etiquette (or rather the lack of it) is to be expected. Your poem is so easy to identify with for me. Thanks for sharpening my awareness.

Heart wrenching. Did I ever tell you my husband doesn't have a cell phone? A true luddite! I am deeply saddened to see so many people staring at screens when sitting at restaurant dining tables, subway cars, etc... when in the company of others. There's a study floating around out there somewhere that says there are young people who aren't actually on the autism spectrum but appear to be due to their inability to connect with others face to face. There is a direct connection/correlation to screen use. Sad.

Your poem commenting on cell phones is spot on. There's such positive potential and yet the downsides are huge. Thanks for tackling this conundrum in your poem and for reminding me that rich poems can be created when we take the time to dwell in the "beauty and concerns", particularly when they overlap.

To me this is a sad poem, Amy, that captures a little of the wrong longing and the disconnect that many young people are not just experiencing but suffering. Isn't it a wonder that we didn't realize that perhaps 16 is a good age for a drivers' license AND for social media accounts?

This poem to me is a sad one, Amy, in that it captures some of the wrong-longing and DISconnect that many young people are not just experiencing but suffering. Isn't it a shame that we didn't realize that 16 is a good age for driver's licensing and for social media licensing?

This poem reminds me of a mother I saw out walking with her toddler one day. It was a beautiful spring day, but the mom was completely engrossed in her phone, not interacting with her child at all. I'm going to be optimistic and hope that this was not a regular occurrence! Thank you for this reminder to put our phones away.

I have often shared your concern as my daughter spends much time on her phone, but this week I am beyond grateful for it as this technology allows us to see and a talk with her while she is in England. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact we can chat over video across an ocean!

Welcome

I'm Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, and I've been sharing poems and lessons here since March 2010. The Poem Farm is a safe place for students to explore poems, and it's a place for teachers to find poetry teaching ideas. I post on Fridays during the school year (every day of April!), and I welcome you to make yourself cozy here among the words.

For El Paso, Dayton, & All Cities Bearing this Burden

Heartbroken

March 2020

I am thrilled that READ! READ! READ! will have a friend book, also illustrated by the talented Ryan O'Rourke and published by Boyds Mills/Kane!

School Visits

I adore visiting schools near and far, joyfully sharing writing in large groups and writing together in small groups. If you wish to learn more about this, please visit my website at the tab above.

Notebook Post!

Please visit my other blog - Sharing Our Notebooks - and peek into the notebooks of Matthew Grundler. Click the image and you will be there.

New Song with Barry Lane

Sometimes, my good friend Barry and I collaborate on a song. We did so this summer, with this poem I wrote in 2016. It is wonderful to have a friend with whom you can share words and music... Click the poem to be taken to the song.

Spring 2018

Spring 2018

A Podcast!

I am so happy to be part of this podcast with the wonderful authors of SHARING BOOKS, TALKING SCIENCE, Valerie Bang-Jensen and Mark Lubkowitz. We had a blast! Click the image to hear it.

Bookmark

Please print if you wish! There are 4 bookmarks per page, and each has room at the top for a hole and yarn. x

Commenting

Nonfiction

Orchard/Scholastic, 2016

First Book

Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013

Co-Author Of

With Lucy Calkins & Stephanie Parsons Heinemann 2013

Need a Poem?

If you are new here, I welcome you! If you seek a poem, click the "Find a Poem" tab above, and it will take you to a page where you can select poems by topic (dogs) or technique (alliteration). This resource is intended for personal or classroom use, and I welcome teachers and students to use these poems in lessons and as mentors. - Amy

My Other Blog

Click the chatting birds to peek into others' notebooks and to find zillions of ideas for your own notebook keeping life.

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Click me to use today's poem!

Listen & Watch

This is a song I wrote with Barry Lane about something parents and teachers know. A child is so much more than a score.